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Jay L. Robinson, professor of English language and literature in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts and professor of education in the School of Education will retire from active faculty status on June 30, 1996.

Professor Robinson received his B.A. (1954), M.A. (1958), and Ph.D. (1962) degrees in English from the University of California at Berkeley. He served two years on the faculty at Northwestern University before joining the faculty at the University of Michigan in 1965 as an assistant professor. He was promoted to associate professor in 1968 and to professor in 1974. His early work focused on linguistics and led to his co-authoring of several articles and books, including English Linguistics: An Introductory Reader, Varieties of Present-Day English; and Real World English. More recently, his interests have shifted toward literacy, resulting in a book entitled Conversations on the Written Word: Essays on Language and Literacy. Professor Robinson has served in a variety of administrative capacities over the years, including chair of the Department of English Language and Literature (1974-81), executive director of the Middle English Dictionary (1978-92), and co-chair of the joint Ph.D. program in English and education (1982-93).

Professor Robinson also served as director of the English Composition Board, director of the Center for Education Improvement through Collaboration, and co-director of the Write for Your Life project. Throughout his career, Professor Robinson has worked actively to foster University-school relations, urging the importance of cross-institutional conversations. He received a number of grants that enabled secondary school teachers and University faculty to participate in joint projects of curriculum revision and professional development. He also played an active role in developing the portfolio assessment used to measure the writing abilities of all matriculating first-year students at the University of Michigan.

The Regents now salute this faculty member by naming Jay L. Robinson professor emeritus of English language and literature and professor emeritus of education.